Environmental Structural Decomposition Analysis of Italian Emissions, 1995-2005

This study analyses the evolution of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and acidification emissions for Italy in the years 1995-2005. Looking at data, while emissions that contribute to the local problem of acidification have been decreasing quite constantly, GHG emissions have been showing a slight increase due to the rise of carbon dioxide. The aim is therefore to highlight how different economic factors have driven the evolution of Italian emissions. The main factors considered are economic growth, the development of a technology allowing a more environment-friendly way of production, and the structure of consumption. The methodology proposed is a structural decomposition analysis (SDA), a method that permits to decompose the changes of the variable of interest among different driving forces and to reveal the relevance of each factor. Moreover, the analysis considers the relevance of international trade and it tries to deal with the problem of responsibility. That is, through international trade relationships a country could be exporting polluting production processes without a real reduction of the pollution implied in its consumption pattern. For this purpose, the SDA is firstly applied to the emissions caused by domestic production. This corresponds to a production-based approach (PBA). Successively, the analysis moves toward a consumption-based approach (CBA) and the decomposition is applied to emissions related to domestic production or foreign production that satisfies domestic demand. In this way the exercise allows a first check of the importance of international trade and it highlights some results at global as well at sector level that can indicate in which direction further analysis should be carried on.problem of responsibility., namea data, structural decomposition analysis

The reform of the European Energy Tax Directive: does data disaggregation matter? The Italian case

In 2011, the European Commission (EC) proposed a new version of the Energy Taxation Directive (ETD), a tax affecting the price of energy products. The main aim was to increase the effectiveness of the instrument through stronger fiscal pressure and to coordinate the environmental taxation with the Emissions Trade System (ETS) introduced in 2005. However, in May 2012 the European Parliament did not approve the reform. Italy, already characterized by high energy taxation rates, has recently expressed a commitment to increase the use of environmental taxation by explicitly referring to the amendments proposed by the EC in 2011. This study analyzes the effect of the 2011 ETD reform on prices in Italy, if it were implemented. The main finding is that the new tax regime would have a low impact on prices. This result implies that the reform would not significantly orient consumption and production towards more environmentally friendly patterns

The reform of the European Energy Tax Directive reform : effect on prices [WP]

[spa] Para hacer frente a los riesgos relacionados con la contaminación atmosférica, es ampliamente aceptada la necesidad de instrumentos de política encaminados a reducir las emisiones. La intervención tiene por objeto reducir las conductas contaminantes y incentivar una conducta más respetuosa y el uso de tecnologías más eficientes. La Unión Europea cuenta con dos importantes mecanismos económicos para el control de emisiones a escala europea: la directiva sobre los impuestos energéticos, un instrumento de fiscalidad ambiental aprobado en 2003 que afecta el precio de los productos energéticos, y el sistema de comercio de los derechos de emisiones, introducido en 2005, que afecta directamente a la cantidad de emisiones de CO2. En 2011, la Comisión Europea propuso una nueva versión de la directiva sobre los impuestos energéticos. El objetivo principal de la propuesta es aumentar la eficacia del instrumento a través de una mayor presión fiscal sobre los productos energéticos y de coordinar este instrumento de fiscalidad medioambiental con el sistema de comercio de los derechos de emisiones, para establecer una señal de precio de CO2 coherente para todos los sectores. Sin embargo, en mayo de 2012 el Parlamento Europeo bloqueó la propuesta de la nueva versión del impuesto, y el proceso de actualización se detuvo. La preocupación principal parecía ser el efecto de dicha propuesta en la competitividad, en particular para los sectores que serían los más afectados dado el uso intensivo de los productos energéticos, como el sector del transporte. El objetivo de este estudio es analizar el efecto que la reforma de la directiva sobre los impuestos energéticos podría tener sobre el nivel de precios, en particular en los países de la Unión Europea donde esta reforma implicaría un aumento de los impuestos energéticos. Utilizando datos del proyecto “World Input-Output Database”, la principal conclusión es que el nuevo sistema de impuestos energéticos tendría un impacto muy bajo sobre los precios. Por lo tanto, dado que los precios no serían fuertemente afectados por la reforma, no habrá inconvenientes para la competitividad y implicaciones en términos de distribución, pero, por otro lado, este resultado también implica una baja capacidad de esta reforma para provocar cambios en el consumo y la producción hacia menos presiones ambientales.[eng] To address risks related to atmospheric contamination, it is widely accepted the need for policy instruments aimed to reduce emissions. Policy intervention seeks to reduce polluting behaviours by encouraging a more respectful conduct and the use of more efficient technologies. The European Union (EU) counts with two important economic mechanisms for emission control at European level: the Energy Taxation Directive (ETD), an environmental taxation approved in 2003 that affects the price of energy products, and the Emissions Trade System (ETS), a cap and trade system introduced in 2005 that directly affects the CO2 emission quantity. In 2011, the European Commission (EC) proposed a new version of the ETD. The main aim of the proposal was to increase the effectiveness of the instrument through stronger fiscal pressure on energy products and to coordinate the environmental taxation with the ETS, establishing a comprehensive and consistent CO2 price signal for sectors not included in the EU-ETS. However, in May 2012 the European Parliament delivered a setback for the EC plans regarding the ETD and the process of updating stopped. The main worry seemed to be the effect of such proposal on competitiveness; in particular the concern regards sectors that would be mostly affected given the intensive use of energy products.The aim of this study is to analyse the effect that the 2011 ETD reform would have on the level of prices, if implemented, particularly in the EU countries where this reform would imply to increase energy taxes. Using data from the World Input Output Database (WIOD) project, the main finding is that the new energy tax regime would have a low impact on prices. Thus, since prices would not be strongly affected by the reform, there will be no drawbacks for competitiveness and distributional implication; but, on the other hand, this result will also imply a low capability of this reform to cause changes in consumption and production towards less environmental pressures

The reform of the European Energy Tax Directive: exploring potential economic impacts in the EU27

The aim of this study is to analyze the effect that the Energy Tax Directive reform proposed in 2011 would have, if implemented, on the level of prices in the different sectors of the 27 countries of the European Union. We apply a multiregional and multisectoral model of trade flows that takes into account all the intersectoral and intercountry interdependences in the production processes. Using the World Input-Output Database we perform two different simulations. The first one considers the tax changes proposed by the reform; the second one shows the impact the reform would have entailed if it were applied also to sectors belonging to the European Trade System (...

Analytical pyrolysis with in-situ silylation, Py(HMDS)-GC/MS, for the chemical characterization of archaeological and historical amber objects

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Carbon-motivated border tax adjustment: a proposal for the EU

The analysis focuses on carbon-motivated border tax adjustment (CBTA). CBTA are tariffs applied to imports designed to avoid drawbacks of emission reduction policies when only one or few regions (the abating regions) implement them. Through CBTA the abating regions level out different treatment applied to domestic and imported products. In this paper we focus on CBTA metric. Through a multi-region and multi-sector analysis we compute and compare two possible CBTA systems that the European Union could implement to complement a hypothetical carbon tax applied to domestic products. In one system, tariffs are computed based on the emissions generated abroad to produce the goods imported by the European Union. In the second system, tariffs are based on the emissions that the European Union would have generated to produce domestically the same products. Results at country and sector level contribute to better understand the effects of this instrument and to add information to the political debate on it. Moreover, an important contribution of this analysis is that we explore methodological issues that arise from the use of multi-region and multi-sector models to compute different CBTA metrics

A hybrid finite volume -- spectral element method for aeroacoustic problems

We propose a hybrid Finite Volume (FV) - Spectral Element Method (SEM) for modelling aeroacoustic phenomena based on the Lighthill's acoustic analogy. First the fluid solution is computed employing a FV method. Then, the sound source term is projected onto the acoustic grid and the inhomogeneous Lighthill's wave equation is solved employing the SEM. The novel projection method computes offline the intersections between the acoustic and the fluid grids in order to preserve the accuracy. The proposed intersection algorithm is shown to be robust, scalable and able to efficiently compute the geometric intersection of arbitrary polyhedral elements. We then analyse the properties of the projection error, showing that if the fluid grid is fine enough we are able to exploit the accuracy of the acoustic solver and we numerically assess the obtained theoretical estimates. Finally, we address two relevant aeroacoustic benchmarks, namely the corotating vortex pair and the noise induced by a laminar flow around a squared cylinder, to demonstrate in practice the effectiveness of the projection method when dealing with high order solvers. The flow computations are performed with OpenFOAM [46], an open-source finite volume library, while the inhomogeneous Lighthill's wave equation is solved with SPEED [31], an opensource spectral element library

Border Carbon Adjustments Based on Avoided Emissions: Addressing the Challenge of Its Design

Carbon pricing is an essential instrument to address climate change. However international differences in carbon control policies may cause not only carbon leakage but also competitiveness disadvantages. In this context, border carbon adjustments are a promising tool for discouraging these problems. But designing a real-world border carbon adjustment instrument implies to consider significant issues: technical feasibility, data availability, the risk of retaliation from developing countries, and its compatibility within the World Trade Organization legal framework. ..

First Impressions Matter! An Experiment Comparing Autonomous and Controlling Language in Course Syllabi

The course syllabus serves as an important first contact between professors and students in university courses and the language used in a syllabus can influence students’ first impressions of the professor and expectations for the course. Existing research in Self-Determination Theory has shown that autonomy-supportive language leads to increased positive outcomes for students compared to controlling language. The objective of the present studies was to compare an autonomy-supportive with a controlling syllabus to see how students felt when reading the syllabus (Study 1), and how the syllabus related to their impressions of the professor, reported motivation, and expectations for the course (Study 2). The results of Study 1 supported that the students reported more positive feelings when viewing the autonomy-supportive syllabus and perceived the autonomy-supportive syllabus was more autonomous and the controlling one was more controlling. In Study 2, the results showed that students who viewed the autonomy-supportive syllabus reported more positive impressions of the professor (more need-supportive, better quality), were more likely to have positive expectations about the course, and more likely to have a self-determined motivation towards attending class compared to students who viewed the controlling syllabus. Overall, the results from both studies supported that there are benefits to using autonomy-supportive language in a syllabus with few side effects. Professors could benefit by making a good first impression upon students by integrating autonomy-supportive language into their syllabus

Effectiveness of clinical decision support systems and telemedicine on outcomes of depression: a cluster randomized trial in general practice

Background: Computerized Clinical Decision Support Systems (CCDSS) are information technology tools, designed to improve clinical decision-making. Telemedicine is a health care service delivery using videoconferencing, telephone or messaging technologies. Objectives: Our project aimed at testing the effectiveness of a composite CCDSS and telemedicine approach designed to treat depression in primary care. Methods: This cluster randomized trial involved four GP clinics located in Northern Italy. Two clinics were assigned to the experimental protocol, and two served as controls. The study compared the telemedicine group (TG), in which GPs had access to a CCDSS platform, with the control group (CG) in which GPs provided treatment as usual (TAU). Patients scoring >= 11 on Patient Heath Questionnaire and >= 26 on the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self-Report were eligible for participation. Patients were also administered the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF to assess quality of life and Medical Interview Satisfaction Scale 21 to assess satisfaction with the medical interview. Results: Overall, 2810 patients were screened and 66 in the experimental group and 32 in the CG passed the screening stages and met inclusion criteria. The percentage of remitters at 6 months was significantly higher in the TG than in the CG group (24.1% versus 3.1%, chi(2) = 6.6, P = 0.01). This difference remained significant after adjusting for baseline confounders. Physical and psychological quality of life improved significantly from baseline in both groups. Patients reported, on average, good satisfaction with the medical interview. Conclusions: Our study showed that a combined CCDSS and telemedicine approach may be more effective than the TAU offered by GPs to patients with depression